The Only One With a Mouth in the CEO Novel - Chapter 24: Looking Like Fate Has Been Unkind

Chapter 24: Looking Like Fate Has Been Unkind

Before Ye Jin could even sort out her own affairs, she received a phone call from Lu Tianlang.

He wasn’t calling for himself, but to relay a message from Guan Yan.

Ye Jin: Understood. I’ll definitely convey the message.

After hanging up, Ye Jin went straight to Gu Chenxi’s office.

President Gu. Ye Jin got straight to the point. Your mother wants you home for dinner.

Gu Chenxi: …

Her message-delivery style remained as blunt as ever.

Gu Chenxi waved her away, indicating he understood.

Ye Jin continued: Your mother invited me to dinner at your place too.

Gu Chenxi: …

Though factually accurate,

the phrasing sounded particularly crude.

Ye Jin smiled and added: President Gu, I’ll rearrange your schedule to free up time for dinner.

Her words left no room for refusal.

If Gu Chenxi wanted to decline, he’d have to find a way to say so himself.

Mainly because Ye Jin was growing anxious.

Recently, everything had been too peaceful with no drama occurring, causing her video production to stagnate.

She hadn’t found opportunities to incorporate the advertisements she’d accepted.

That was a solid 200,000 yuan! If she could seize this opportunity, the money would soon be in her pocket.

Hence her current unscrupulous approach.

Thinking this, Ye Jin’s gaze toward Gu Chenxi suddenly softened.

After all, part of that 200,000 advertising fee was thanks to his handsome face.

Gu Chenxi lowered his eyelids, avoiding her gaze.

Ye Jin silently counted three breaths back and forth. Receiving no indication of refusal from Gu Chenxi, her smile deepened. Then I’ll make the arrangements now, President Gu. Please carry on with your work.

With that, she turned and left.

…

Gu Chenxi watched her cheerful departing figure, leaned back in his chair, and remained silent.

Who knows what messy thoughts were swirling in his mind.

Since Gu Chenxi didn’t live with the Gu family, he brought his driver for the visit.

Brother Li, let’s go to the location I sent you first, Ye Jin said as soon as she got in the car.

Sure thing.

Having traveled together on numerous business trips, Li Yong was already quite familiar with Ye Jin, speaking with much relaxation.

The address Ye Jin provided was a high-end fruit wholesale center.

Boss, please wait in the car. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Ye Jin had everything arranged for Gu Chenxi, then got out of the car with Li Yong.

Gu Chenxi mentally acknowledged this and continued sitting comfortably in the vehicle.

But then it occurred to him – if he, as the boss, usually acted more approachable, perhaps Assistant Ye wouldn’t be so afraid of meeting his eyes.

After all, lately she hadn’t even dared to look at him directly.

Being the boss felt rather stifling this way.

Gu Chenxi got out of the car, scanned the area, spotted Ye Jin, and walked straight over.

Ye Jin was bent over selecting fruits.

As she picked through the produce, she noticed the stall owner’s cheerful chatter gradually fading away?

She looked up and saw Gu Chenxi – tall, silent, and dressed in a custom-tailored suit.

The aura of someone in a high position was completely different from ordinary people.

His habitual reserve only sharpened his imposing presence.

Though Gu Chenxi didn’t draw everyone’s attention in this bustling marketplace, he successfully silenced everyone within his immediate vicinity.

…What a mood-killer.

Ye Jin ignored him and continued conversing with the vendor.

When settling the bill, the shop owner quietly said to Ye Jin alone: The total is 8,340 yuan, but you can just pay 8,000.

Beep.

A scanning sound came from nearby.

An electronic voice announced mechanically: Payment received via bank card: 8,340 yuan.

Both Ye Jin and the shop owner turned to look simultaneously.

This level of initiative was really quite impressive.

Gu Chenxi calmly put away his phone and gestured for Ye Jin to leave.

It was only eight thousand – it wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it.

Why was he showing off like this?

Ye Jin was quite dissatisfied with his composed demeanor. She picked up the bird’s nest they had just purchased and shoved it into Gu Chenxi’s hands: Later, you can give this to Madam and tell her you bought it for her.

Though, technically, he was the one who had paid for it anyway.

As for the remaining items, Ye Jin kept some as housewarming gifts and asked Li Ge to take the rest home.

Having arranged everything for Gu Chenxi once again, Ye Jin felt satisfied and carried the box outside.

Gu Chenxi looked at the items in his hands, feeling uncertain.

So, did this count as successfully bridging the gap with ordinary people?

At the Gu residence.

Having learned that Gu Chenxi was coming home for dinner, Guan Yan had been waiting in the living room for quite some time.

When Ye Jin knocked on the door, Guan Yan personally came to answer it.

Madam, sorry to disturb you, Ye Jin said politely, holding two boxes of fruit. I didn’t know what you liked, so I just bought some casually. I hope you don’t mind.

Not at all.

Guan Yan gently welcomed her inside.

The housekeeper perceptively took the items from Ye Jin’s hands.

Guan Yan instructed: Take these to the kitchen. We’ll have them as dessert after the meal.

Then she said to Ye Jin: Dinner will be ready soon. Please rest first and have some tea.

Her expression was kind, exactly the same as when she had asked Ye Jin to persuade Gu Chenxi to come home for dinner last time.

Ye Jin responded politely: Thank you, Madam.

Gu Chenxi stood behind Ye Jin and silently placed the bird’s nest down.

Noticing Guan Yan looking at him, he gave a slight nod in response.

The atmosphere between mother and son was awkward, making them appear quite unfamiliar with each other.

Without Ye Jin present, it was hard to imagine how stiff their interaction would be.

Guan Yan understood clearly that Gu Chenxi’s return for dinner was entirely thanks to Ye Jin.

Therefore, she treated Ye Jin with exceptional gentleness, sitting close to her and even pouring her a cup of tea.

Chenxi, Guan Yan placed a teacup in front of Gu Chenxi. This is for you.

Gu Chenxi nodded slightly but showed little interest in the tea, letting it steam quietly.

Dinner was soon ready.

Gu Qingyang also arrived right on time.

He looked thoroughly disheveled from overwork, with messy hair sticking out in all directions and two dirty band-aids on his left hand.

Guan Yan said gently: Go wash up quickly. It’s time for dinner.

Okay, he responded in a relaxed manner.

Then, casually looking up, he exclaimed with surprise: Sis?! What are you doing here?

Guan Yan explained: I invited Assistant Ye to have dinner with us.

When Gu Qingyang spotted Gu Chenxi sitting on the single sofa, his face immediately fell.

As expected, Gu Hui was absent from tonight’s dinner as well – maintaining his consistent disappearing father persona perfectly.

Only the four of them were present at the dining table.

Guan Yan said warmly: It’s been so long since I’ve seen you two brothers sitting together.

Moreover, she had heard from Lu Tianlang that their relationship wasn’t actually as tense as it appeared.

This news had both surprised and startled her.

Now, she looked back and forth between them with great satisfaction.

Gu Chenxi: …

Gu Qingyang: …

At this moment, they were surprisingly in sync—both wearing stiff expressions with rigid faces, clearly displeased about being forced together.

Yes, Ye Jin said with a cheerful smile. This is much more harmonious.

Seeing such a scene brought Ye Jin a sense of relief.

She had been in this world for some time now. Although the relationship between the two brothers hadn’t actually improved, she had successfully made everyone believe it had through some well-placed rumors.

Couldn’t that be considered a success in its own way?

…

Gu Chenxi lowered his gaze, refusing to acknowledge her.

Gu Qingyang let out a soft, disdainful snort.

With the brothers’ situation mostly resolved, Ye Jin turned her attention to reconciling the mother-son relationship.

Is this bamboo shoot chicken soup? Ye Jin initiated the conversation. Did you make it yourself, Madam?

Guan Yan: Yes, Chenxi has always loved my soup since he was little.

This was promising.

Ye Jin swiftly served a bowl for Gu Chenxi and urged enthusiastically, President Gu, please try it.

Guan Yan watched with hopeful eyes.

After a moment of silence, Gu Chenxi poured a generous amount of vinegar into the chicken soup before slowly lifting the bowl to drink.

Ye Jin was puzzled. Does chicken soup need that much vinegar?

Don’t mind him, Xiao Ye, Guan Yan said. Chenxi just prefers it that way.

So that was it.

Curious about the taste of bamboo shoot chicken soup, Ye Jin served herself a bowl.

With one sip, she suddenly felt as if a naked chicken were swimming in her mouth.

So fishy.

With Guan Yan watching closely, Ye Jin mustered her strong willpower and swallowed the soup.

Then, without a word, she began pouring vinegar into her own bowl.

Gu Chenxi paused mid-sip, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

The vinegar masked the fishy taste.

After adding a substantial amount of vinegar, the chicken soup finally became somewhat tolerable—though still far from delicious.

Gu Qingyang, sitting across from Ye Jin, asked curiously, Is the chicken soup that good?

…It has a unique flavor, Ye Jin replied with difficulty.

Her response only piqued Gu Qingyang’s curiosity further.

Besides, he had never tasted Guan Yan’s chicken soup before.

Eagerly, he served himself a large bowl and took a spoonful. The expression on his face instantly vanished.

Then, he too silently added vinegar to his bowl.

One pot of bamboo shoot chicken soup had rendered three people speechless.

Both Ye Jin and Gu Qingyang had now personally experienced what it meant to be unable to voice their suffering.

After that, no one touched the chicken soup for the rest of the meal.

After dinner, they moved to the living room to relax.

Gu Qingyang pulled out a game console and sat cross-legged on the floor, engrossed in playing.

The housekeeper quietly brought over a fruit platter.

This time, Ye Jin found herself sitting next to Gu Chenxi.

She leaned in and whispered curiously, Boss, do you actually like drinking that chicken soup?

Gu Chenxi shot her a look that said, What do you think?

So, he didn’t like it.

Ye Jin added another theory to her list of guesses about Gu Chenxi’s silence: perhaps he had been rendered mute by the bamboo shoot chicken soup.

And judging by Guan Yan’s tone, Gu Chenxi had probably been drinking it since childhood.

…He seemed to have a rather tough life.

Whenever things grew quiet, Ye Jin’s mind would wander endlessly, her thoughts racing nonstop.

After a while, her internal monologue finally subsided.

Only then did she realize how suffocatingly silent the atmosphere in the Gu residence was.

Gu Qingyang was still absorbed in his game.

Gu Chenxi was handling work on his phone, no different from how he was in the office.

Guan Yan sat on the leather armchair draped in a shawl, doing nothing but sitting there quietly.

Like a flower blooming silently in the corner.

Guan Yan’s features were elegantly beautiful – what little handsomeness Gu Qingyang possessed was entirely inherited from her.

Yet Ye Jin inexplicably felt that this flower was quietly withering away.

It was as if her spirit was trapped in some temporal rift. Though her body continued living normally in this house, her heart had already died.

So far, Ye Jin had only met Guan Yan three times.

The fragmented impressions Guan Yan had given her were all so contradictory that Ye Jin couldn’t piece together her true personality – she remained an enigma of a woman.

Moreover.

Ye Jin could understand the distant relationship between Gu Chenxi and Guan Yan.

But why was Gu Qingyang also so distant from Guan Yan, despite her obvious doting affection for him?

Ye Jin was burning with curiosity.

She desperately wanted to know what had happened between them.

After some internal deliberation, Ye Jin took the initiative to approach Guan Yan.

She was Gu Chenxi’s assistant.

She had personally arranged Gu Qingyang’s current job.

No one understood these two sons of Guan Yan better than Ye Jin.

These topics happened to interest Guan Yan as well.

Selectively sharing some information, Ye Jin successfully captured Guan Yan’s attention, injecting some vitality into the slowly withering flower.

Guan Yan affectionately took Ye Jin’s hand and said, Let’s go upstairs to chat.

Intending to extract information, Ye Jin followed her upstairs.

Afterward, she spent considerable time making small talk and setting the stage, hoping to get Guan Yan to open up and share her true feelings.

But Guan Yan only showed emotional expressions.

When Ye Jin heightened the emotional tone, she would shed a few tears, but her lips remained tightly sealed throughout.

Finally exhausted, Ye Jin sighed and kept serving her tea.

…Truly fitting for a novel where no one knows how to communicate.

Her lips were sealed tight indeed.

Weary, Ye Jin stood up to take her leave: It’s getting late, I should be going, Madam.

Guan Yan saw her downstairs.

Only when they reached the ground floor did she finally speak, saying sorrowfully: To be a mother like me is such a failure.

Guan Yan added: Assistant Ye, thank you for sharing so much with me today. I’m very happy.

Ye Jin thought: You might be happy.

But she had exerted herself for nothing.

I enjoyed chatting with you too, Ye Jin said with professional insincerity. I’ll visit to chat with you again another time.

Ye Jin left the small villa with Gu Chenxi.

Phew.

Ye Jin exhaled deeply, looking up at the pitch-black sky when suddenly she got inspiration for a video.

President Gu.

Ye Jin initiated, Do you know what Madam just told me?

Gu Chenxi waited patiently for her to continue.

Ye Jin deliberately twisted Guan Yan’s words: Madam said, to be a son like you is such a failure.

Gu Chenxi: …?

Ye Jin didn’t forget her 200,000 either: Madam also said she’s going to list all her unused old phones and computers on TwistTwist App. TwistTwist is nationwide with guaranteed quality.

With 200,000 almost in her pocket, Ye Jin’s mood suddenly improved considerably.

She continued loudly reciting the advertisement: Just put your unwanted old sons on TwistTwist App! Staff will come for pickup, satisfactory prices with instant payment. For recycling, choose TwistTwist App!

Gu Chenxi: …?

Has Assistant Ye been driven insane by that bowl of poisoned chicken soup?